Pro Wrestling has changed...

"Pro Wrestler Hero of the Week"
Rock Legend Scum Adam Thornstowe

Adam had one of the better matches at PCW this weekend. He showed me a huge improvement from the last time I saw him. Guys with his ability don't come around too often. He seems dialed in with psychology from what I could see. He had a heck of a match with a rookie who was having only his 3rd pro match. If Adam worked on his look, he could make money in the sport of pro wrestling...




IDIOT OF THE WEEK
CHRIS BENOIT

All the facts are not in but if nothing changes and he murdered his family and then committed suicide, it would be a lock for him to be this weeks recipient



CAMPING TRIPS and IDIOTS
I hate camping! I hate everything about it. I hate doing dishes in the river. Now that I don't smoke or drink, campfires suck. I also hate using a restroom in places like Yosemite because I don't like to do my thing in the dark while standing over some shit hole - Gross! I went camping once in the early 70's and never have gone again. Would I ever go again? I think so. If I knew there would be someone on the camping trip that could BBQ a mean trout over the fire, I would consider. You want a for-sure answer.

Tell me when I stand over the toilet seat in those crappy johns that I'll look down and see a bunch of the idiots that post on the Nor Cal message boards and I'm there for the camping trip. It will be a pleasure to take a dump in those horrible porta poddies!

There is so much I want to talk about with so little time to talk about it. I know I want to blog on "Beyond the Mat" and Barry Blaustein and his friend Barry Bloom but maybe next blog.

CHRIS BENOIT
I think with the tragedy that took place this past week, I'd like to start off by giving my condolences to the Benoit family on both Chris and Nancy's side of the family and give my condolences to Kevin Sullivan.

I know all of the facts are not out and more and more facts keep coming out and more and more will continue to come out especially after the toxicology reports but we may never know the truth because only Chris, Nancy and Daniel know the real truth.

I met Chris in 1995 in Los Angeles at the When Worlds Collide AAA pay-per-view. I spent 3 hours with him during a meal and talking in the hotel lobby and on the bus going to the arena. I never spoke to him after that day but I respected the hell out of his wrestling ability. I only wish I knew what only him and his family knew might be going through his mind. I also only wish peace to them and I am sure they are in a better place but what an idiot move if I ever saw one. I wonder what makes someone do such a terrible thing when he has so much going in his life.

I know WWE has taken lots of heat for doing the tribute show to Chris Benoit and that is crazy because at the time Vince found out they were dead, they were about to go on the air and it was too late. Do you think had Vince known then what is known today, he would have aired that program? Not a chance. What you can blame Vince for is changing the industry by increasing the entertainment part of pro wrestling and decreasing the sport of pro wrestling. It isn't Vince's fault that a national product the way he has set up the WWE system, has guys on the road away from their families trying to recover with their bodies enough to be able to perform on a daily basis. The product and the way things are run makes it too easy to mix drugs with alcohol and steroids.

MY EXPERIENCES
When I grew up with pro wrestling, I looked up to pro wrestlers because they seemed super human. Big arms, big barrel chest. They did not look like fans. This is partly what is wrong with Indy wrestling today. The wrestlers look like the fans and you can't tell the difference and that is why the wrestlers sometimes don't get respected. Does that mean they need to use steroids? Did the wrestlers from the 60's and 70's and other eras use steroids? I don't profess to know anything about the topic but I know it has always existed but there was not a huge importance placed on it and not nearly as many of the boys used steroids and those that did would probably agree it was not in the dosages used today. Some of the guys I knew used dyanaball. To show you how little I know about it, I can't even spell dyanaball. The promoters placed more of an importance on in-ring ability and wrestling ability than the body. You had to have size. Heck, pro wrestling rarely accepted anyone below 220 into the industry. Even at 220, you had to have the ability of a Chavo Guerrerro Sr. or Danny Hodge to have success and they did so as Junior Heavyweights. Today, any clown is allowed by promoters to wrestle without any kind of wrestling ability and/or proper wrestling gear. Today, to reach the major leagues, the major promotions want wrestlers with six packs, they want muscle on top of muscle on top of muscle. They rarely care about wrestling ability alone.

When the Boot Camp first opened, we had lots of talented graduates but nobody could make it to the major promotions because although they had tons of in-ring ability, none of them had the look. That was partly my fault because I did not condone steroids nor did I place a huge emphasis on the body. I placed emphasis on in-ring ability. I started to change the APW ways around the year 2000. In 2001, guys like Michael Modest and Donovan Morgan had good looks. How did they get them? I can't prove it but you don't have to be a rocket scientist to know how. I know one thing, the look combined with their wrestling ability got them a 4 year career in Pro Wrestling Noah in Japan. I can't count the number of times a WWE rep would tell our guys...

"You guys are well trained and awesome in the ring. You understand psychology better than most students/graduates from training schools but you have to improve the look."

STEROIDS
Jim Ross told Tony Jones in Beyond the Mat. Tony had a great collegiate background after 5 years in the NCAA's at San Francisco State but he never made it because he lacked the look. Even with the steroids, wrestlers still have to work out and eat right and many wrestlers can't adapt to the lifestyle change.

My guess is that steroids today are not only being used to build bodies but used for recovery because of being on the road and the body taking so much punishment with the daily travel and not having enough time to recover. Travel by air today is tougher than by car in the regional days especially when travelling daily. I know some territories had long trips but San Francisco had short trips with rarely anything over 3 hours. The boys were home with the family that same night and at the gym early the next morning.

I am sure Vince demanded from the boys what he felt they needed because remember, they were not competing with pro wrestling but were competing with Walt Disney, Ice Capades and Barnum and Bailey. Then there was the pressure of the big guys doing steroids. What is a smaller wrestler to do when the larger sized wrestlers are doing them? What do they do to compete? Do they fall behind in the dollar value game if they don't do what is necessary to compete? I am not condoning steroids but I don't really know if they are the real problem.

You always hear being on the road away from family is tough. The road can be a lonely world where eventually, wrestlers turn to recreational drugs and alcohol. I believe that is the problem and not steroids. I think it is the mixture of drugs, alcohol. Throw in the steroids and you have many deaths in the industry in the last 20+ years since pro wrestling became a national product. Throw in the family problems, as what might have been the case with the Benoits, there can be some serious repercussions from what wrestlers and their families go through in this industry. I am not making excuses because there is no excuse for doing what Chris did, if in fact, he did the deed. You have to be an idiot or a coward. Do we blame someone that snaps under all that pressure? Do we blame the industry for turning the other way when wrestlers are known to use drugs, alcohol and steroids without the company cracking the whip. Has WWE cracked the whip? I'd say no. Is it possible for them to say the wrestlers found a way to beat the drug tests? I'd still have to look at the way pro wrestlers look today and say regardless of what those test results are, something doesn't jive.

I applaud WWE for putting some of the guys through rehab. In some instances, it seems they have made a concentrated effort to help the wrestlers. Just like an alcoholic or drug abuser, the wrestler has to be willing to help themselves. So in theory, you can't blame the WWE completely. Everyone has to share the blame.

BOY, HAS PRO WRESTLING CHANGED!
The industry sure has changed. I make a living from an industry that is not the industry I wanted to be a part of. It is not the industry I grew up passionate about. Passionate to the point I was almost obsessed with it. I grew up with pro wrestlers that weren't the athletes you see today but they understood the sport and art form of pro wrestling. They partied too! Most smoked pot and most drank beer. There was even a handful that drank hard liquor. I am sure there was a percentage of pro wrestlers that used some form of steroid. I don't think they used it to the extent it is used today. I don't think they were taking as many painkillers as the boys might take today. I don't think the percentage of wrestlers doing cocaine or ecstasy or other recreational drugs and mixing it with alcohol in almost lethal dosages were as great a number as today. They surely weren't going through the lonely days on the road away from family like they do today. The wrestlers shouldn't have to look like freaks but only look different than the average fan. It all has to start with the major promotions caring more about the wrestling abilities of the wrestlers and putting the emphasis on ability. Can it be done? Wrestling has become huge business. Today, television controls lots of what you see on television. Even the networks could share in the blame for the continued abuse of at least steroids. It all has to start with the major promotions caring about Indy Wrestling and pro wrestling training schools and talent development systems.

Would wrestling fans accept wrestlers without six packs and without the freakish looks? Would television networks accept ability over look? Are the major promotions willing to dip into some of the huge profits made to make sure the wrestlers are taken care of? Even on the Indy level?

THE INDUSTRY MUST CHANGE AGAIN
The sport of pro wrestling has to change again! The system as it exists today is responsible for too many deaths of too many young wrestlers. It is a black eye to the industry. Regional pro wrestling has to be brought back with normal looking pro wrestlers that have wrestling ability. Each territory has to have a talent development system with good training schools. There has been a domino effect with poor-ass wrestling training schools. These changes would keep wrestlers at home with their families. This will keep wrestlers from being lonely on the road and depending on drugs and alcohol. This will open up more jobs for pro wrestlers and make sure they are better trained. Vince could still monopolize the industry while bettering the national product by alternating the weekly Raw and Smackdown programs with different wrestlers from week to week which will decrease the staleness of talent and eventually quadruple television ratings and pay-per-view buy rates. The wrestlers could cut out the steroid use or at least decrease it because the stress would be on ability and not the look and there wouldn't be the need for the highest recovery system if the road is not lending to lack of recovery for the body. Let's take some more of those huge profits and unionize the industry. Let's make sure there is retirement and medical insurance for all the wrestlers. So Vince isn't a billionaire anymore. He can still be a millionaire and who knows, this just might be an idea that makes someone a billion. Those are my thoughts and they are free for the taking because I still have passion for pro wrestling.

JON ANDERSEN
Of course, my work is not done. I still have to create a system to get rid of most of the idiots that post on the NorCal boards. When I read uneducated crap like "the APW students are upset that Jon Andersen has already made his pro debut and it isn't fair" - I want to vomit. Trust me, our students understand the importance of his success. They are also not stupid. They understand Jon is paying 2 to 3 times the price they pay to be trained privately at an accelerated speed. They also understand Jon has a heck of a look and tons of credibility as a Strongman competitor and a successful one at that. I hate it when they don't give our students enough credit. They underestimate our current students. They are very, very talented and loyal. I give lots of credit to our training staff including Beginners Coach, Dana Lee, assistant coach, Joseph Rodriguez, Pro Coaches, J. J. Perez, Oliver John and MPT. What it boils down to is jealousy. Certain people will always be jealous of APW because people like Jon Andersen who want success continue to approach APW. People who made documentaries approached APW. Students who want good fundamental training still approach APW.

Jon Andersen is giving so much back to the school in terms of his personal services as a personal trainer. Heck, he even donated 20 pounds of meat to a student that has been struggling financially. His wife, has given some great sound advise to the students because she is very educated when it comes to Nutrition. Better her than me giving the advice. Isn't that what some of you idiots say, that I shouldn't give nutritional advice. Trust me, our students appreciate Jon Andersen.

There is so much to talk about but I really have to run. My time is limited and I have a ton of work to do. Besides, I need to pack for my upcoming camping trip and I don't want to be late. I plan on doing lots of eating and I will be altering my diet for this camping trip (if you know what I mean).

They say what goes into your system must eventually come out so I plan on seeing all you idiots in Yosemite!" I'll blog when I return...